The Voting Youth

The presidential election is only a week away and still no one's
quite sure who is going to be living in the White House for the
next four years. Every poll seems to say something different and
the only sure thing seems to be just how unsure every political
pundit is about who will be the 44th president of the United
States. In such a close election it's not just hyperbole to use the
adage, 'every vote counts.' At the polls, it doesn't matter whether
you're 88, voting in your 16th presidential election, or you're 18,
voting in your 1st. Both votes count just the same, regardless of
life experience. For that reason, it's no wonder that in such a
contested election, both candidates are aggressively courting the
youth vote.

"There's a lot more outreach this time around then there had been
in 2000. Even the campaigns have appointed youth directors to
coordinate the youth vote," explains Mark Hugo Lopez, research
director at the Center for Information and Research on Civic
Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). "I think you'll see young people
potentially playing a big role particularly if they turn out in
high numbers in swing states."

In an attempt to better understand this potentially important group
of voters, CIRCLE teamed up with MTV to poll 18-to 29-year-olds on
topics related to the 2004 presidential election. This group of
young people represents 21 percent of the population with over 40
million eligible voters. Over two-thirds fall in between 18 and 25
years old, meaning a huge portion of this population will be voting
for the first time. However, even though so many of them are new to
politics doesn't mean that they're not interested. Thirty-four
percent responded that they were paying 'a lot' of attention to the
2004 presidential campaign, the highest response since 1992. In
comparison, just 16 percent said they were paying a lot of
attention in 2000. "Young people are interested because this is
such a close election," says Lopez. "With that said, I'll also
point out that while young people are interested, I think their
interest level is still below that of adults."

While their interest level may be below adults, it turns out that
the issues young registered voters consider when choosing a
presidential candidate are nearly the same as their older
counterparts. The top three issues for young voters are 'the
economy and jobs,' 'terrorism and national security' and 'the war
in Iraq.' These align very closely to the issues that voting adults
are most interested in. This wasn't exactly the response that Lopez
expected before conducting the survey. "At first I was surprised. I
expected to see the cost of education as number one. But when I
thought about it more it certainly made a lot of sense because
young people are obviously facing a lot of the same economic
conditions and issues regarding the war on terror. So why should we
expect them to be any different?"

During every election it's common to hear about the importance of
the youth vote and after every election it's common to hear that
youth once again are not well enough represented. However, in an
election where nothing is certain and neither candidate is a lock
to hold the keys to the country for the next four years, these
first time voters could tip the balance if they come out in the
numbers of which they are capable.